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Gandhi and Rajchandra. Uma Majmudar
Читать онлайн.Название Gandhi and Rajchandra
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9781793612007
Автор произведения Uma Majmudar
Жанр Религия: прочее
Серия Explorations in Indic Traditions: Theological, Ethical, and Philosophical
Издательство Ingram
“Jati-smaran-jnana,” or
“Knowledge of the Past Lives”
As the story goes, once, as a little boy (between the ages of seven to nine), Rajchandra witnessed a traditional Hindu-style cremation ceremony (where a dead body is put up on a funeral pyre or logs of wood for being consumed by fire) of Amichand Sheth—his dear friend—who had died suddenly of a serpent bite. Being acutely grief-stricken yet also highly reflective, the little Rajchandra (like the inquisitive little boy Nachiketa in the Katha Upanishad) was burning with many questions about life, death, and if there was life after death, so he turned to his father or uncle for the answers. None of their answers, however, satisfied the boy except for their suggestion that he may find out for himself by going into deep meditation, called samadhi. Following their suggestion, Rajchandra immersed himself into deep contemplation in which he could vividly see all the past lives of not only his deceased friend, but also his own previous lives. Astonishingly, at such a tender age, Rajchandra was capable of grasping the truth that death is not the end of life, that it’s only the body which dies and not the soul, that it is only a transitioning of the soul from one life to another and yet another and so on until it achieves moksha or liberation from the cycle of births and deaths. Thus, through samadhi, the spiritually advanced little boy Rajchandra learned (i) about the immortality of the soul and the continuity of life and (ii) about the futility of mourning for death.
Telepathy and Clairvoyance
The family, friends, followers, and community at large also bore witness to the poet’s other amazing powers of telepathy and clairvoyance! For example, once the poet’s admirer and follower Shri Saubhagbhai Lallubhai Sheth, who was far older than Rajchandra, had planned a surprise visit to the poet’s residence “to reveal to him the secret spiritual knowledge called the “Elusive Key,” or “Beej Jnana!” Despite knowing nothing about the Sheth’s secret meeting plan, Rajchandra had “a premonition of his coming,” acting on which, upon Saubhagbhai’s arrival, the poet greeted him by his name as if they had met before. Not only that, but Rajchandra also showed the Sheth “a pre-written note about why he wanted to come and see the poet!” Since then, Shri Saubhagbhai Sheth was totally convinced about Rajchandra’s superior spiritual status, and now accepting him as his Guru, Sheth Saubhagbhai also established an ashram in Gujarat in his Guru’s name, “Shree Raj Saubhag Ashram,” which still exists.
Rajchandra in a State of Divine Discontent
Strangely enough, none of these worldly achievements and not even his meteoric rise to material success—name, fame, wealth, or power—seemed to satisfy the soul of this multitalented teenager. At the prime of his youth and at the zenith of his popularity, Rajchandra admitted to have felt a “Buddha-like” dispassion or “vairagya” toward all material aspects of life. And yet, unlike Buddha, instead of renouncing the world, Rajchandra decided to stay in the world. Though he opted for marriage at the age of twenty, and also efficiently oversaw his diamond shop business, he remained as unattached as the proverbial lotus flower—floating above the water, not immersed in it!
Rajchandra, not yet twenty-five, was in such a state of divine discontent, when he was first introduced to Gandhi as a “Kavi” or a poet. He had willingly given up all his public performances and demonstrations of his numerous, miraculous gifts and powers. Becoming more and more detached, he was fast advancing on the path of a deep spiritual search for Truth, for self-perfection, and Self-realization. The poet’s ultimate goal was to achieve moksha, or liberation from the “samsara-chakra” (cycle of births and deaths) while trying at the same time to realize his true self. The fact that Rajchandra could focus so intently upon his spiritual striving, or sadhana, despite remaining in the world and without shirking his duties intrigued Mohandas Gandhi so much that he would want to know more from near about this spiritual side of the poet.
Chapter 4
What Cast a Spell on Gandhi
What was Gandhi’s reaction to witnessing Rajchandra’s phenomenal power of retentive memory as well as his many other exceptional talents and abilities? To put it in his own words, “I envied his gifts without, however, coming under their spell” (GATB, 112). Gandhi said, though impressed, he was not inspired because he was interested in something quite different, something deeper. His religious appetite having been kindled by some of the devout theosophists and Christians in London, Gandhi was ready now, as he put it in his Preface to Shrimad Rajchandra—written from Yeravada Jail (1926, 146)—“to drink deep to his heart’s content the nectar of religion from his guru”—a guru who was not only knowledgeable but also a living embodiment of truth, purity, and wisdom. Unbeknownst to him, Gandhi was yearning in his heart for someone he could trust as a friend and spiritual guide, and with whom he could enter into a close, heart-to-heart, and soul-to-soul relationship. Like a hungry little bird waiting to be fed by its mother, Mohandas, too, was searching for someone to feed him now the real food for the soul.
And Gandhi would not be disappointed. He had come to the right place, at the right time, to meet the right person—Rajchandra—who would satisfy the hunger of his soul. The first two months that Gandhi spent in close communion with the poet at his residence in Mumbai, would prove to be most fruitful in satisfying not only his spiritual hunger, but also “in molding his inner self” and in building his character. Gandhi himself would later attribute to Rajchandra the distinct honor of being his prime inspiration to show him the way out of the darkness of ignorance into the Light of Knowledge; the poet would lead him gently but firmly from untruth to Truth. We shall now witness the gradual process of metamorphosis of an otherwise ordinary man like Mohandas Gandhi into the world-revered “Mahatma Gandhi.”
As indicated in the previous chapter, when Barrister Gandhi first met Rajchandra, the latter had already gone through a state of “divine discontent” as a result of which he had been reborn as if a person living in the world, yet not of this world. And what had struck Gandhi upon meeting the poet for the first time was exactly this: his “vairagya-bhavna” or “dispassion toward the things of the world.” Though the poet was detached, Gandhi observed, he had a cheerful countenance and a tranquil expression on his face; his eyes lit up when he spoke with measured yet forceful flow of words! As Gandhi put it in his Preface to Shrimad Rajchandra (November 5, 1926), “Shrimad was a rare man with a genuine culture of the heart.”
In his Autobiography (GATB, 112), Gandhi mentions three things about the poet which “cast a spell” over him: “his wide knowledge of the scriptures, his spotless character, and his burning passion for self-realization.”
Rajchandra’s Encyclopedic
Knowledge of World Religions
Despite his being the brightest student in his class who surpassed even his teacher in knowledge, Rajchandra had to drop out of school early in order to bear the financial responsibilities of his family upon his father’s sudden death. At the tender age of only thirteen, he had to hold the reins of their family’s pearl and diamond business. However, even while attending to his jewelry shop and tending to his clients, Rajchandra did not quit his passion for learning;